I disliked them both equally

Despite the initial reasons for casting Jeri Ryan, I felt that she did a superb job acting wise and she also had some strong material to work with. I did also like Kes, and Jennifer Lien did a good enough job. It would've been interesting to watch her powers develop and to see her grow into old age over the course of the series. She definately had more potential than a rookie Ops officer and a wannabe Ambassador and bad cook.

I've always thought that Kes is a bit of an underrated character. She had more potential than I think the writers recognised, as they never seemed to know quite what to do with her.

For that reason, Seven was a stronger character in that her arc was far more clearly defined, and reasonably interesting. Unfortunately, her progression to becoming more human is not unlike Data's, which to me always brings it back a bit. It also didn't help that so much of S4, and arguably the subsequent seasons, was devoted to her to the detriment of certain other characters who fell by the wayside.

For these reasons, although I think that Seven probably is a better character, I would vote for Kes.

I liked both but have a preference for Seven, especially in season 4. I do wish that they hadn't humanised her so much. I'd rather she'd been used to explore the Borg and what they might have become without the assimilate everything aspect. It might have been used as a long term arc in relation to the Queen's statement of allowing Seven to remain on Voyager. Instead of the Queen being standard villain #1424355, she and Seven could have been a longer arc about getting the Borg to change from the monsters they were.

That's a tough question for me to answer. Each was so different than the other. Kes was very appealing to me, with her pixie haircut, sensual voice, and intelligence. Seven of Nine was the opposite - in your face lil Abner body in a catsuit to appeal to young (and old) fanboys. Kes was under-used; Seven over-used. They could have easily existed together on the show, since their characters and stories had little in common.

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Right of the bat this is how i feel about it too. I think towards the end of Kes's run there was so much more to learn. We were really getting down to what her speices was all about. and i really loved the long hair. I never did like the pixie wig. looked to fake. As far as 7 I cant argue with a hot blond in a cat suit but i think she was over used too. I started calling Voyerger the 7 of 9 show.

One thing that I think that we should consider when we are comparing the characters and the actresses are the roles the characters were supposed to have in the show.

Kes was supposed to be more of a background main character. If we look at the first episodes, the foreground main character was Janeway with Chakotay as no. 2 while Paris, Tuvok and Torres came straight after. The Doctor, Kes, Neelix and Kim were more like background main characters.

That changed later on when The Doctor got a more prominent role

However, that meant that Kes was kept in the background in many episodes but when she was given a place under the spotlight, we could actually see that the character had a lot of quality. The same for Jennifer Lien's acting. When she was given the chance to shine, she took it.

When Seven was brought in, her role was immediately one of the foreground main characters (if not the main character). The show became focused on three characters: Seven, The Doctor and Janeway while the others were in a way shoved in the background. That gave Seven a lot of screen time and it also gave Ryan the opportunity to show her skills more than the amount of screen time that was given to Jennifer Lien.

Therefore it's hard to compare the characters and the actresses. They were very different and had such different roles.

However, that meant that Kes was kept in the background in many episodes but when she was given a place under the spotlight, we could actually see that the character had a lot of quality. The same for Jennifer Lien's acting. When she was given the chance to shine, she took it.

However, that meant that Kes was kept in the background in many episodes but when she was given a place under the spotlight, we could actually see that the character had a lot of quality. The same for Jennifer Lien's acting. When she was given the chance to shine, she took it.

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I have to agree this is the case in episodes like "Warlord".

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Now compare "Warlord" to "Infinate Regress".

Lien was so-so. If she put the emotional impact into "Warlord" like Ryan did with "Regress", there would be no doubt that Kes would have been the breakout character without them ever needing Seven.

However, that meant that Kes was kept in the background in many episodes but when she was given a place under the spotlight, we could actually see that the character had a lot of quality. The same for Jennifer Lien's acting. When she was given the chance to shine, she took it.

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I have to agree this is the case in episodes like "Warlord".

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Now compare "Warlord" to "Infinate Regress".

Lien was so-so. If she put the emotional impact into "Warlord" like Ryan did with "Regress", there would be no doubt that Kes would have been the breakout character without them ever needing Seven.

However, that meant that Kes was kept in the background in many episodes but when she was given a place under the spotlight, we could actually see that the character had a lot of quality. The same for Jennifer Lien's acting. When she was given the chance to shine, she took it.

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I have to agree this is the case in episodes like "Warlord".

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Now compare "Warlord" to "Infinate Regress".

Lien was so-so. If she put the emotional impact into "Warlord" like Ryan did with "Regress", there would be no doubt that Kes would have been the breakout character without them ever needing Seven.

All Seven was is a restart to the character Kes was meant to be.

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Comparing Seven and Kes by referring to Seven as a "restart of what Kes was meant to be" is actually wrong because there is too much difference between the characters and their presumed roles in the stories.

If the writers had given Lien the same opportunities as Ryan was given, then the outcome for the character Kes would have been much different. As it was, Kes was underused but actually did shine when allowed to do so.

Yes that was the comparison I made when I first watched VOY. Everything that annoyed me about Deanna annoyed me about Kes, only more so. Too sugarry, lacking any personality other than "Nice Person". (Though Deanna was excellent in her VOY eps, and much more interesting than a lot of TNG).

I'm just not interested in "Nice Person". I want character flaws. 7 was my all time favorite Trek character for a long time. I understand that if you didn't care for her having all those 7 dominated eps would have been pretty annoying--for me they were just an embarrassment of riches.

7 was also used for a lot of VOY humour, her arrogance versus the doctor's pomposity etc.. and then there was her touching relationship with Janeway which revealed a lot about Janeway's character..

Lien was so-so. If she put the emotional impact into "Warlord" like Ryan did with "Regress", there would be no doubt that Kes would have been the breakout character without them ever needing Seven.

All Seven was is a restart to the character Kes was meant to be.

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Comparing Seven and Kes by referring to Seven as a "restart of what Kes was meant to be" is actually wrong because there is too much difference between the characters and their presumed roles in the stories.

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They are the same in the aspect that we would be watching them grow up over the course of the series. Their origin and frame of mind is different but their theme remains the same.

You can disagree but an opinion or point of view can't be deemed wrong, please keep that in mind in the future.

Lien was so-so. If she put the emotional impact into "Warlord" like Ryan did with "Regress", there would be no doubt that Kes would have been the breakout character without them ever needing Seven.

All Seven was is a restart to the character Kes was meant to be.

Click to expand...

Comparing Seven and Kes by referring to Seven as a "restart of what Kes was meant to be" is actually wrong because there is too much difference between the characters and their presumed roles in the stories.

Click to expand...

They are the same in the aspect that we would be watching them grow up over the course of the series. Their origin and frame of mind is different but their theme remains the same.

You can disagree but an opinion or point of view can't be deemed wrong, please keep that in mind in the future.

Click to expand...

There are more differences than similarities between the characters.

When it comes to Kes, we might call her development "growing up" since she was rather young when she came to Voyager. But in her case it's more about learning and exploring since Kes after all was the equivalent to a human 18-25 years old and therefore could be regarded as a grown-up. Besides that, she had had a rich and happy childhood.

When it comes to Seven, it's another story. She was abducted by the Borg as a young child and assimilated. In her case, it was more about someone with a ruined childhod who was trying to rebuild her life again.

The characters also had very different personalities. Therefore it would have been interesting to have both of them on the ship regarding their relationship to Janeway, The Doctor and the other crew members.

For me, it has to be Seven of Nine; her story was developed extremely well, and she added some spice and irregularity to the main cast. She strengthened the connections between the characters, because her interactions with everyone were so strong. Her relationships with each of her fellow crewmembers was unique and distinct, with a different feel to any other that had been on the show. She even made me like Harry Kim at certain points.

However, I also liked Kes, but I don't think she was treated fairly. She was never really given the chance to develop or grow as Seven did, and her potential was left unexplored. When she was given a chance to shine, it always looked promising (I love "Cold Fire"), but we never got to see anything truly awesome realised.